My view: Well, I would have chosen pretty much the same order. Brandan is a complete, mature defender, his versatility is a bonus!, who could make it everywhere. Wanted by Stuttgart in the winter break, he’s now waiting for anothere concrete offer and hoping that Unirea will show understanding, given the fact that he came to Urziceni on a free transfer and acted like a true professional, even when he had every reason to be unhappy. Nice development by Sepsi, who improved while away at Benfica and Santander – we’ll probably see him higher in the standings next season. If Brandan leaves😉

My choices: I think Leonardo Veloso deserves to be mentioned, in spite of a handful of appearances for CFR Cluj in the second half of the season. Dinamo’s Pulhac started again to look like a decent player, but the guy seems to have some serious issues and has lost the right moment to move abroad and away from the club that raised him. Something that hopefully won’t happen to Unirea Alba Iulia’s Bucurica (11th place in gsp’s standings!), demanded by several important clubs this summer…

Note: the top five is taken from Gazeta Sporturilor, a newspaper that uses the service of Digital Soccer Project. These results are based on a series of specific criteria for each position, include only players that have collected at least 1.200 minutes on the pitch in the past season and the only subjective part of the analysis consists in the average marks received by the newspaper’s writers.

Tempted to move away this summer, Muresan agreed to a new deal with the champions that will expire in 2015! The anchorman played a key role in CFR’s first eleven since his arrival from Gloria Bistrita, showing excellent work ethic, leadership and quality on and off the pitch. Paid until now with 80.000 Euros per season, almost five times less than what Sixto Peralta was getting for playing as a rotation midfielder, Muresan probably will receive a salary in the region of 150.000 Euros (a couple of good offers from abroad paid dividends), but the official details of his new contract have not been released.

Unirea Urziceni signed the veteran full-back Petre Marin, from Steaua Bucharest, who gets a two years long deal, in spite of his age! The 36 years old leaves the red and blue outfit after six years of consistent performances and basically gives the green light for Pablo Brandan‘s move away from Urziceni. Marin will be followed to Urziceni by his former colleague, Adrian Neaga, who terminated his contract with Neftci Baku and was also recommended to Ronny Levy by Mihai Stoica.

Astra Ploiesti made the first two signings of the summer, showing that Steaua’s former manager, Mihai Stoichita, is really close to take over from Marin Barbu. Pierre Ebede, a 30 years old keeper from Cameroon, has been transferred from AEL Limassol, while the Bulgarian Atanas Bornosuzov comes from Litex Lovech to strengthen a team that will aim to finish in the top half of the standings next season. According to several press reports, the two should be followed in the next few days by the likes of Zhivko Zhelev (released by Steaua this summer), Mihaita Plesan (out of favor at Steaua, available for 100.000 Euros) or Stelios Parpas (available for 100.000 Euros)

It seems that all the rumors regarding FC Cologne’s interest in the Romanian market could lead to another interesting transfer this summer. After the signing of Rapid’s Alexandru Ionita, Soldo’s team is helding talks with Unirea Alba Iulia – ready to return to the second division, after one season spent in Liga I – regarding the promising left back Bogdan Bucurica. The 23 years old, who has been watched this season by a couple of Russian clubs, awaits the clubs’ agreement to pass some tests and discuss personal terms.

According to Unirea’s president, the Romanian side wants a better percentage from the player’s future transfer, saying that Cologne is ready to pay around 1 million Euros at this point. In my opinion, the German club will pay a lot less, this guy is only fishing around…

After a failed move to VFB Stuttgart in the winter, when Unirea refused 1,4 million Euros in exchange of the best left back in the league, Pablo Brandan still has a shot at a transfer to a 1.Bundesliga club. According to gsp.ro, the Argentinian tops the shortlist of FC Cologne, the club that already made a transfer from Romania: Rapid’s promising centre-forward Alexandru Ionita. Brandan certainly deserves it and it would be an excellent deal for Cologne, given the player’s quality, professionalism (let’s not forget that he was angry with the board after the Stuttgart episode, but kept on training and playing) and versatility (he can play at left back, on the left side of the midfield, but also as a defensive midfielder).

The Brazilian Leonardo Henrique Veloso (22) has failed to agree terms with Dinamo, who offered him 10.000 EUR per month, until June. Apparently, he is earning 300.000 EUR in Holland, at Willem II, but his contract will run out at the end of the season. There’s still a chance for the left sided player to come to Romania, after CFR Cluj decided to offer him a trial right away.

Steaua just added another name to a long list of wanted players: Boubacar Diarra. The 30 years old defender had a solid career in Germany, at SC Freiburg, and is currently under contract with Luzern, in Switzerland, but should catch the final days of Steaua’s training camp from Turkey. So far, Steaua managed to agree terms only with Stelios Parpas, but couldn’t sign the likes of Gora Tall, Edwin Ouon, David Lopes, and is looking very weak at the back.

The Brazilian forward Wesley Lopes da Silva (29), who has been impressive since he moved to FC Vaslui from Leixoes in 2009, reacted surprisingly after he was denied a move to Al-Wasl, from Dubai. He demanded a bigger contract than the 200.000 EUR he gets per season right now or he’ll never step foot on the pitch again, for his current club. A discussion with wealthy club owner Adrian Porumboiu will probably take place soon, as Wesley is a key figure at Vaslui, in an excellent season indeed, but, on the other hand, Porumboiu is too experienced to accept a negotiation under these terms.

Pablo Daniel Brandan (26) stated today in an interview that he has lost motivation at Urziceni and that he has been treated unfairly by the club. The Argentinian defensive jolly was very close to a move to 1. Bundesliga this winter, but Unirea refused 1,3 million euros, although the player had arrived in Romania on a free transfer back in 2007.

Central defender Cosmin Barcauan is close to a return home, after three and a half seasons spent in Greece, at PAOK and OFI, where he was sent on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk. Barcauan (31) started his Liga I career as a striker for Universitatea Craiova, but was moved in central defense and then transferred to Dinamo, the club that is hoping to sign him in the next few days, after the player passed today a medical exam.

Named Best foreign player in Romania, Pablo Brandan (26) has won also a place in the ideal first eleven of the league, after half a season. The Argentinian left back is currently playing for reigning champions Unirea Urziceni and doesn’t hide his disappointment for missing out on a transfer to VFB Stuttgart. The German club apparently offered 1.100.000 1.400.000 EUR, but the Romanian club was expecting to land a deal in the region of 3.000.000 EUR.

Dacian Varga (25), currently under contract with second division club Sportul Studentesc, has several club from the first division interested in his services. After Steaua Bucharest and FC Timisoara, Rapid Bucharest lined up in the race for his signature. Each club is trying different approaches to convince Vasile Siman, the owner of Sportul, to sell the player, after the left winger impressed in the Champions League group stage this season, playing on loan at Unirea Urziceni.

Marius Constantin (25) finally agreed to extend his contract with Rapid, which was expiring at the end of the season and one of the most interesting targets for free transfers in the summer has become unavailable. The defender was a target for several Russian and German clubs, but apparently Dynamo Kyiv was at one point keen to sign the strong centre-back. Constantin’s new deal will expire in June 2013 and he got a raise from 120.000 EUR to 200.000 EUR per season.

Colombian attacking midfielder Dayro Moreno (24) has publicly demanded to be allowed to return to Once Caldas, although the club cannot afford the 500.000 EUR transfer fee.

Ronny Levy was officially presented today as the new coach of Unirea Urziceni. He signed a contract until June 2011 and has dismissed all the transfer rumors, stating that he’ll use this next period to figure out the team’s weak points. Unirea lost two important players, Tiberiu Balan and Dacian Varga, but seems to keep the excellent Argentinian Pablo Brandan, as the interest from VFB Stuttgart resulted in a “ridiculous” bid, according to the club’s manager Mihai Stoica.

Steaua’s owner announced that Bulgarian centre forward Krum Bibishkov has been already released, but Gigi Becali seems to have some problems in getting rid of Rafal Grzelak. The Polish midfielder earns 13.000 EUR / month and is under contract until June 2010.

Steaua is interesting in buying Rui Sandro Carvalho Duarte (29) from FC Brasov. Probably the best player on this position in Romania, the Portuguese right back was bought in 2008 from Estrela Amadora and FC Brasov thinks that he’s worth more than the half of million euro offered by Steaua.

CFR Cluj announced that a second transfer will be completed tomorrow, when Kasali Yinka Casal (22) is expected to sign a long term deal. The Nigerian comes from Swindon Town and plays at left back.

Radu Baicu

• 10 years of continuous work in scouting, for top clubs and companies;
• Worked for clubs like Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hannover 96, monitorring the Romanian market;
• Worked for Birmingham based company 'The Scouting Network' (www.tsn.co.uk) as a football scout;
• Worked for Zurich based company Boutique Football as a scouting network coordinator;
• International scout for Young Boys Bern for 2 years, covering Eastern European football.
• Currently working as an international scout for a top French club, covering Eastern European football.